2032: Word Puzzles

2018-08-13T17:05:15Z

PaulGilmartin: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2032
| date = August 13, 2018
| title = Word Puzzles
| image = word_puzzles.png
| titletext = Eno's storied aria was once soloed by Judge Lance Ito on the alto oboe at Ohio's AirAsia Arena.
}}

The dialog, caption, and title text contain many
words that appear frequently in crossword puzzle
answers because the fit well with intersecting
words, in part because they have a high density
of vowels.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball: ''"Parts of this aria were composed by Brian Eno's Opera Star au pair at the start of his post-live era."''

Megan (thinking): "...parts...start...eno...aria"

My hobby: messing with word game enthusiasts by using words that make them '''sure''' there's a puzzle to solve

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Music]]

1982: Evangelism

2018-04-19T00:36:56Z

PaulGilmartin:

{{comic
| number = 1982
| date = April 18, 2018
| title = Evangelism
| image = evangelism.png
| titletext = The wars between the "OTHER PRIMATES OPEN THEM FROM THE SMALL END" faction versus the "BUT THE LITTLE BIT OF BANANA AT THE SMALL END IS GROSS" faction consumed Europe for generations.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 2 METER FARENHEIT LOVER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Evangelism is defined as a zealous advocacy for a cause. This comic presents a line plot where causes are listed in order from advocates who are least intense to most intense going left to right.

;''Religious proselytizers''
Religious proselytizers are, of the groups on this list, most known for intense evangelism in popular culture, yet Randall contrasts them in this strip with four other groups which he finds to be even more intense in their evangelism.

;''People who want the US to switch to metric'' and ''People who want the US to switch to metric but keep Fahrenheit''
Unlike most of the world, the US uses [[wikipedia:United States Customary Units|US customary units]] instead of metric units. Some people wish for this to change.

Pro-metric people who wish to keep the {{w|Fahrenheit}} scale rather than change to {{w|Celsius}} are ranked as slightly more evangelic. A common argument for keeping the Fahrenheit scale is due to 0°F equating to "really cold" and 100°F to "really hot" when talking about weather.

;''People who threw away their socks and bought all one kind''
This is also mentioned in the [[1572:_xkcd_Survey|xkcd Survey]] from September 2015 which included this question:

<blockquote>
Have you ever thrown out all your different pairs of socks/underwear, bought a bunch of replacements that were all one kind, and then told all your friends how great it was and how they should do it too?
</blockquote>

;''People who open bananas from the other end''
Some people prefer to open bananas from the bottom (small end) instead of the top (stem end). This is the way primates in the wild have been observed to open bananas. Less force is required to open a banana at the bottom than at the stem, causing less bruising of the fruit & generally making it easier to open. However, if not done carefully, this can result in the fruit getting squished and making a mess on the person's fingers. Opening bananas from the stem end offers no practical advantage, yet appears to be the predominant habit of most banana-eating humans in Randall's sample. One explanation is that opening using the stem as a lever makes for greater ease of opening and thus less damage in practice. (Bananas grow with the stem at the bottom: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Banana_farm_Chinawal.jpg Banana farm Chinawal.jpg])

The title text is a fictional argument that apparently somehow tore apart Europe. It is about how bananas are supposed to be opened, so it is absurd for this to have actually happened. The supposed argument ''stems''<sup>[ [[No Pun Intended|Pun Intended]] ]</sup> from a disagreement over the suggested ease of opening a from the bottom, versus the idea that the small bit at the base of a banana is unappetizing. This also appears to be a reference to the wars between the Blefuscudians who opened their eggs at the big end, and the Lilliputians who broke their eggs at the small end, as documented in Jonathan Swift's epic novel Gulliver's Travels.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A single frame is shown. The header reads:]
:People by intensity of evangelism
:[An arrow points from left to right. The text above:]
:More intense

:[A line is drawn from left to right with five markers on it.]
:[Marker on the left:]
:Religious proselytizers
:[Marker in the middle:]
:People who want the US to switch to metric
:[Marker slightly right of the middle:]
:People who want the US to switch to metric but keep Fahrenheit
:[Marker at the beginning of the last quarter:]
:People who threw away their socks and bought all one kind
:[Marker at the right:]
:People who open bananas from the other end

{{comic discussion}}

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2032: Word Puzzles

1982: Evangelism